Your favourite BACK covers of albums

[Indeliblelink]

We've done front covers to death but do you have any favourite / memorable / famous back covers to albums.
Will also accept back covers to singles if they're good.
Inspired by this tweet by Ice-T today, a pic of Eminem wearing a top with the back of Ice-T's 1988 Power album on it. Certainly a legendary behind.

50 great back-covers: flip these albums over, flip out

Sometimes the coolest part of an LP's artwork isn't on the front.

www.al.com

Turning The Beat Around: In Praise Of The LP Back Cover

For physical medium fetishists, one major appeal of the 12” vinyl format is the big, beautiful cover art—just ask my local IKEA, which has been out of GLADSAX LP frames for the past two months. We all have our favorite album covers, and there’s even a sizable cult following for covers so bad...

www.vinylmeplease.com

 

[ska invita]

The ones that come to mind first are the acid 70s Parliament/Funkadelic and Earth WInd and Fire records









hows this for a gataefold! >>

 

[ska invita]

 

[Orang Utan]

Maggot Brain was the first thing I thought of, ska invita , as it happens

 

[ska invita]

One more child-haunting EW+F

 

[ska invita]

PRinces Around The World in a day was a wraparound gatefold

Back

Front

 

[petee]

 

[Siouxsie]

Too many to put up but anything by Derek Riggs.
His artwork and the attention to detail, that really only die hard Maiden fans will appreciate and get straight away, is outstanding.
Just at random because I really can't chose...

 

[Siouxsie]

And Diary of a madman

 

[Siouxsie]

And

 

[hitmouse]

Trying to have a think, the Clifford Harper illustration for the Curse of Zounds is the only example I can think of where the whole effect relies on you seeing the back cover - front is:

And then the back is:

Spoiler

 

[stavros]

 

[Indeliblelink]

Beastie Boys - Licence to Ill back cover is a classic [another cover Eminem has paid tribute to].

 

[Nanker Phelge]

 

[Nanker Phelge]

 

[Nanker Phelge]

 

[hitmouse]

Oh, the hands-down best record cover of all time is Go 2 by XTC, and here's the back cover:


Extra points for being so annoying that they printed some of the text on the insert so you had to put it together to be able to read the whole thing.

 

[[62]]

Speaking of XTC, here they go all Disraeli Gears for their Dukes of Stratosphear alter-ego.

 

[[62]]

Another great gatefold. Like the back for the railway interest around the old Red Bank sidings.

 

[hitmouse]

Another great gatefold. Like the back for the railway interest around the old Red Bank sidings.

View attachment 441932

This has made me go and look up the back of Hex:

 

[[62]]

This has made me go and look up the back of Hex:
View attachment 441937

(1hr) (1hr) (1hr)

 

[petee]

Another great gatefold. Like the back for the railway interest around the old Red Bank sidings.

View attachment 441932

i've always wondered if this was an urban-version homage to...

 

[hitmouse]

Please point out the diff. twixt these and the blue columnists. (This has little to do with song.)

 

[Dr. Furface]

Bitches Brew gatefold

 

[Dr. Furface]

 

[hitmouse]

View attachment 441951

Although, continuing my fondness for overly-wordy back covers, I'd say that the greatest ever early Clash back cover wasn't for an album at all, but the White Riot single:

Which introduced me to what, many years later, I learned was a Stuart Christie/Albert Meltzer quote years before I knew who either of them were, and is a bit of writing I still find myself thinking of whenever generations are discussed. Thanks to the Clash for that.

 

[hitmouse]

Oh, and sticking with the theme of arty post-punk bands dicking around with their back covers, there's Gang of Four's Damaged Goods EP, where they sent a photograph to their label with a letter describing how they wanted the sleeve to look, and the label just put the photograph and accompanying letter on the back cover:

 

[ska invita]

Inner sleeve



babel fish from hitchhikers guide vinyl

 

[Knotted]

Heldon - Third "It's Always Rock and Roll"